Building construction



Jan.7,1 936. J. E. HOOVER 2,027,230

BUILDING CONSTRUCTION I Filed March 31, 1934 W {MENTOR M B I I r 14 TTORNEYS.

Patented Jan. 7, 1936 PATENT OFFICE BUILDING CONSTRUCTION James E. Hoover, Oklahoma City, Okla.

Application March 31,

7 Claims.

The present invention relates to improved method of building construction.

The object of my invention is to provide a device of the class described for constructing fluid :containers, gas envelopes, retaining and other structures, and the like, which it may be found desirable to collapse and transport from place to place.

Other important objects of my invention are to provide a device of the class described which may be made of comparatively light and cheap material yet which is reinforced in such a manner as to produce a very strong structure for any desired purpose.

Other important objects of my invention are to provide means for building any ordinarily permanent structure from very flexible and portable, material.

My invention is particularly adaptable to the construction of buildings, tanks, receptacles, dirigibles, balloons, boats, roofs, tents, tabernacles and swimming pools.

Other objects of the invention are to provide a device of this class which is new, novel, practical and of utility; which will be simple to manufacture; which will be easy and simple to assemble; which will be easy to transport when collapsed; which will be strong and durable;

which will permit a complete tie at all meeting joints; which can be assembled and built at the building site as well as in a factory; and, which will be efficient in accomplishing all of the objects for which it is intended.

At the present time'many of the above mentioned and other structuresfor which my invention are adapted are made only with heavy and inflexible material. My device is designed to provide a means of building such structures lighter, flexible and cheaper without sacrificing any of the desirable characteristics and providing new and desirable characteristics.

With these and other objects in, view as will later more fully appear, my invention consists in the construction, novel features, and combination of parts hereinafter more fully described, pointed out in the claims hereto appended and illustrated in the accompanying one-sheet drawing forming a part of this specification, and in which like numerals designate like parts throughout the several views, of which,

Figure 1 is a perspective viewof one of the construction units; and,

Fig. 2 is a side elevational view, showing two ofthe units joined together at their ends and the side flanges broken away somewhere intermediate 1934, Serial No. 718,371

drawing is to be interpreted as being illustral6 tive and not restrictive.

In the drawing is shown one embodiment of my invention in which the numeral l designates generally my apparatus to be used for building construction. The numerals 2 and 3 refer respecl5 tively to the right and left end flanges, likewise numerals 4 and 5 refer to the front and rear side flanges, respectively. Numeral 6 refersto preferred channels or grooves in the various flanges for the purpose of receiving connectors or cables 1.

The connectors or cables 1 may or may not be coated or covered with an insulating, resilient or gasket forming substance 8. The grooves 6 may be placed in any desired position in the flanges. The limiting position of the grooves being that position where the lowermost groove in the end flange comes in contact with the uppermost groove of the side flanges. When the insulated cables are clamped in the grooves at this limiting position a seal at the corners of the units will be formed by the contact of the cables. Assembly of the units is preferably efiected by placing them end to end with the outer surface of flange 3 in contactwith the outer surface of flange 2 and clamping the flanges together over the cables 1 as may best be seen in the upper part of Fig. 2. In this manner a continuous strip of units of any length desired may be formed. These strips of units joined end to end may be further assembled by placing them side toside with the outer surface of flange 4 in contact with the outer surface of flange 5 and clamping the flanges together over other cables 1. A surface, continuous in any direction of the reinforcing cables I is thereby formed by the outer surface I2 of the unit I. It is understood that the cables may be of any number and of any suitable material and nature. Also the grooves for receiving said cables may be of any shape and number and placed in any desired position in the flanges.

Each flange is provided with any desired number of perforations 9 for receiving clamping members In. The numeral ll refers to strips or cleats adapted to form a vice for holding with clamping members any two flanges together.

The grooves 6 are preferably formed before assembling the units by machining or pressing. However, the grooves may also be formed by placing'the cables between any two corresponding flanges of any two units and by pressing the flanges around said cables with the aid of the cleats -I I and clamping members I0.

The unit I is designed to be joined to other like units in a continuous segment, in the end to end or side to side direction or in both directions at once, thereby forming a continuous structure of any desired dimensions.

Obviously, the invention is susceptible of embodiment in forms other than that which is illustrated in the accompanying drawing and described herein, and it is applicable for uses and purposes other than as detailed, and I therefore consider as my own all such modifications and adaptations and other uses of the form of the device herein described as fairly fall within the scope of my invention.

Having thus described my invention, what is claimed and desired to be secured by Letters Patent, is:

1. In building construction, a combination of units each comprising a rectangular sheet of flexible material having right angle parallel flanges at its side edges, and having right angle parallel flanges at its ends extending in an opposite direction from the first mentioned flanges, said flanges each having a longitudinal groove for complementally forming a housing for a reinforcing element when the flanges of different units are fastened together.

2. In building construction, a combination of units each comprising a rectangulalr sheet having right angle parallel flanges at its side edges, and having right angle parallel flanges at its ends extending in an opposite direction from the first mentioned flanges, said flanges each having a longitudinal groove for complementally forming a housing for a reinforcing element when the flanges of different units are fastened together.

3. In building construction, a combination of units each comprising a rectangulalr sheet of flexible material having right angle parallel flanges at its side edges, and having right angle parallel flanges at its ends extending in an opposite direction from the first mentioned flanges, said flanges each having a longitudinal groove for complementally forming a housing for a reinforcing element when the flanges of different units are fastened together and a reinforcing element to be received by the grooves.

4. In building construction, a combination of units each comprising a rectangular sheet having right angle parallel flanges at its side edges, and having right angle parallel flanges at its ends extending in an opposite direction from the first mentioned flanges, said flanges each having a longitudinal groove for complementally forming a housing for a reinforcing element when the flanges of different units are fastened together, and a reinforcing element to be received by the grooves.

5. Organization as described in claim 1 and means for securing the flanges together.

6. Organization as described in claim 3 and means for securing the flanges together.

7. In building construction, a combination of units each comprising a rectangular sheet having right angle parallel flanges at its side edges extending its entire length, and having right angle parallel flanges at its ends extending in an opposite direction from the first mentioned flanges for its entire length, said flanges each having longitudinal grooves extending their entire lengths for complementally forming housings for reinforcing elements when the flanges of diiferent units are fastened together, and reinforcing elements to be received by said side and end flanges and by said grooves.

JANIES E. HOOVER. 

